Still: The Rays had their boot on the neck of the defending champs, 7 outs away and 7 runs up, and couldn't seal the deal. You've got to crush the Red Sox when you have the chance.

Meanwhile, speaking of chances and worst-case scenarios, that's BYU fans today. They didn't just lose at TCU (underrated TCU); they got clobbered so badly I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped out of my Top 25 entirely. BCS? Please. Any BCS-busting hopes sit with Utah right now -- and the Utes still have to play both BYU... and TCU. (Both in SLC, though.) Boise State, too.

When your team has a bye week, college football Saturdays are so much different. I'm excited to watch Texas-Missouri (and watching Penn State decimate Michigan will be fun too), but it's just not the same when you don't have your team to hub your day around. Still: Live-blogging tomorrow, as usual.

Finally, if you care at all about blogs and blogging -- and presumably you do at at least some level, because you consume them -- this essay by Andrew Sullivan is a must-read. Sullivan is perhaps my favorite blogger (certainly non-sports) and he is a master of the form. I'd love to figure out a way this weekend to write my own version of this -- not nearly as compelling, but perhaps just for the time capsule.

Complete SN column here. More later, I'm hoping. Although at this point, a few days into two-child parenting, I probably just want to sleep all day.

The Rays will be fine. Remember in 2005, when Pujols launched that soul crushing homerun off Lidge in Game 5 of the NLCS at Minute Maid Park? Roy Oswalt came back the next game and made Card bats look silly, and the Astros where on their way to the WS.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.